Thirty years after winning the Kumite, Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is living off the grid in a remote village in Thailand. He’s a "complete bum"—haunted by the violence of his past and the commercialization of the martial arts world he once helped expose.

The new Kumite takes place on a shifting, multi-environment cargo ship in international waters.

Dux isn't the young "Muscles from Brussels" anymore. To save his son, he must mentor a new underdog—a disgraced street fighter who possesses the raw speed Dux has lost. This echoes the relationship between Master Sun and Alex Cardo from the 1996 sequel. Dux teaches him the "Iron Hand" technique and the philosophy of "dim mak" (the death touch), preparing him for a tournament that is now more high-tech and lethal than ever.

If you were looking for the plot of the actual film that was produced, it follows:

The Kumite hasn't disappeared; it has evolved into a global, dark-web spectacle run by a tech-billionaire fighting enthusiast. To draw Dux out of hiding, the organizers kidnap his estranged son, a high-stakes MMA fighter who tried to go legitimate but got caught in a fixed match.

Alex Cardo (Daniel Bernhardt), an arrogant art thief caught stealing an ancient katana in Thailand.